THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 d
Page A-7
‘Worst-case scenario nightmare’ for cop who killed son Police: Son killed mother; father on routine administrative leave n
BY ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH STAFF WRITER
James Stirkens knew his wife’s attacker all too well when he found him stabbing her to death in an upstairs bedroom last week. To try to save her, he shot and killed the man — his son. The killings happened at about 8 p.m. Jan. 29 in the family’s two-story home in the 7400 block of Lake Katrine Terrace in Gaithersburg, according to police. Stirkens, a 27-year veteran of the Montgomery County Police Department, discovered his 25-year-old son, Christopher Stirkens, using garden shears to attack Denise Stirkens, according to The Washington Post. To defend his wife, Stirkens, 58, shot their son, killing him, said police spokesman Capt. Jim Daly. Fire and rescue personnel took 53-year-old Denise Stirkens to a local hospital, where she died. “Her injuries were stab wounds,” Daly said. James Stirkens, a police sergeant, called 911 immediately after the shooting and stayed on the phone until police arrived. Stirkens, 58, has been placed on routine administrative leave while police investigate the slayings, Daly said. Internal affairs staff also will investigate after the initial investigation is completed. No charges have been filed. Police have not said how many times Stirkens shot his son or if the handgun used was his personal weapon or a department-issued firearm. Police did say that they don’t knowwhatpromptedChristopher Stirkens to attack his mother. Christopher Stirkens had runins with the law, online court records show, for relatively minor, nonviolent transgressions: marijuana-related charges in 2009 and 2012. In one case, charges were dropped. In the other, he pleaded guilty and was fined $150.
It’s unclear if Christopher Stirkens had mental problems. “We’re looking at all possibilities to see if there’s a mental health component, a substance abuse component. ... It’s certainly part of the investigation,” Daly said. The Stirkenses lived at the Lake Katrine Terrace home for about 20 years, according to police. No one else was in the home at the time of the killings. According to Denise Stirkens’ Facebook page, she had worked at the U.S. Department of Justice and for Montgomery County Public Schools. She was also a “Dance Mom”
at the Dawn Crafton Dance Connection in Gaithersburg. After the slayings, Crafton posted a note on her group’s Facebook page reacting to the news. “We have lost a wonderful, caring, ‘Dance Mom’ and friend of more than 20 years. She was a treasured, supportive member of our dance family and always had a big hug for us,” Crafton wrote. James Stirkens’ Facebook page had photos of himself with his wife, who had family portraits on her page with her husband and their three children. “It is a tragic situation,” Daly told reporters Thursday morning.
Marlin Tyner, 29, a neighbor, said Christopher Stirkens was withdrawn. “If you talk to him, he’s quiet,” he said. Tyner said he heard problems at the home. “I heard screaming and stuff, but whenever they came outside, everyone acted [like] everything’s OK,” he said. But neighbors also called the elder Stirkens a calm, levelheaded man and a good neighbor. “There’s probably never been a cross word coming out of [James Stirkens’] mouth,” said a man who lives near the Stirkens home. Christopher Stirkens attended Col. Zadok Magruder High School
in Rockville and played on the basketball team as a senior before graduating in 2006, according to Magruder coach Dan Harwood. The team went 22-3 and lost in the regional championships, he said. “We’re all kind of shocked over here at Magruder. When he was here, he was a really good kid, a really quiet kid,” Harwood said. Stirkens attended the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore for a year, in 2006-07, according to school officials there. He also had studied at Montgomery College, according to his Facebook page. “We’re all traumatized on one level or another,” said Cmdr.
Don Johnson, James Stirkens’ commanding officer in the Third District. “Everybody in the police family is very devastated by this event.” Stirkens worked at the station, which serves the active downtown Silver Spring area, as a patrol sergeant the last six years, he said. Stirkens is reliable, trustworthy and knowledgeable, he said. “He provides that senior experience every commander needs to have at the station,” Johnson said. “You just can’t imagine what he’s going through. ... You can’t picture that worst-case scenario nightmare,” he said.
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